Annex 1

 

Rural Health Project: Social Assessment Guidelines

 

 

Introduction to Social Assessment

Each county-level proposal must include a discussion of the social context and key social issues relevant to the project. A social assessment ensures that the project takes account of the needs and interests of different groups or institutions who might affect or be affected by the project. This might include:

 

ü       people or groups who may be affected directly (whether positively or negatively) by the project

ü       people who should benefit but who are at risk of being excluded

ü       people or institutions that may affect the outcomes of the project (e.g. through their support or opposition).

 

Each county proposal needs to demonstrate that a social assessment has been undertaken during the preparation stage.

 

The following note and checklist is designed to assist the counties in undertaking this assessment in order to ensure that a) relevant information is included in the proposals, and b) the project activities and monitoring mechanisms take this information into account.

 

 

Social Assessment for the Rural Health Project

The core goals of the new health program include improving equitable access to quality health services, including public health, for the rural population.

 

The social assessment is therefore concerned with the issues of

ü       whether all people are able to benefit from the proposed interventions in an equitable way; and

ü       whether the health needs of different groups – particularly the poor or vulnerable - are being considered and addressed. 

 

Key questions to address in a social assessment are therefore:

ü       What are core issues of disadvantage or inequality in health status and access to health care in your county?

ü       How do proposed pilot interventions or activities aim to address these?

ü       How will activities be monitored to ensure the goals of equity are achieved?

 

 

 

 

 

 What information should the project proposal include?

 

Addressing the above questions requires that the proposals provide the following types of information (discussed in more detail in the following pages):

 

1. Context or background information:

·         Background information on the economic, social and cultural context of the county including income; poverty rates; the health system, and the opportunities and constraints for achieving more equitable access to quality health care.

 

·         Identification of population groups with different health needs or status, differential access to health care; or who may need special consideration in project design (for example, by ethnicity, income, gender, age, illness or disability, location etc.). The proposal should consider:

·         who are the particular groups of concern for the project?

· how would the project affect them? what could the project do to help them ?

· what does this mean for design and implementation of the project?

 

 

2. Stakeholder Analysis

·         A discussion of key stakeholders, that is: people likely to be affected by or influence the project) and their interests. The assessment should address: their interests; how they are likely to be affected by, or affect, the project; and how they have been consulted during project design. Findings should be based on consultations, interviews, focus group discussions or stakeholder workshops with identified groups.

 

(See notes on stakeholder analysis below.)

 

 

3.  Implications for project design and implementation

·         A discussion of how the proposed pilot activities will address the equity and access objectives of the project and the needs of the groups identified. This should include: how the needs of the poorest or most vulnerable will be addressed through the project; and how these groups will participate in the process of project implementation and monitoring.

·         A discussion of how the impacts will be monitored and evaluated, including indicators for monitoring the social impacts of the project; what kind of information is already being collected or needs to be collected?